Resolution no. 22160

Order, pursuant to article 7-octies, paragraph 1, letter b) of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 (“Consolidated Law on Finance”) to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance carried out through the website www.finexoinv.io and the relevant page https://client.finexoinv.io

LA COMMISSIONE NAZIONALE PER LE SOCIETÀ E LA BORSA
 [THE NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR COMPANIES AND THE STOCK EXCHANGE]

HAVING REGARD TO Law no. 216 of 7 June 1974 and subsequent amendments and supplements;

HAVING REGARD TO Legislative Decree no. 58 of 24th February 1998 (“Consolidated Law on Finance”) and subsequent amendments and supplements;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the web, it emerged that:

i. the www.finexoinv.io website, which is available in Italian, offers potential investors the possibility of trading CFDs with underlying currencies, indices, cryptocurrencies, commodities, and on shares and futures;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the www.finexoinv.io website, via a process that is also available to Italian users, open an account and deposit the relevant funds; specifically, five types of account are offered, known as “Micro”, “Classic”, “Silver”, “Gold”and “Platinum”, depending on the minimum deposit required and the promised benefits;

iii. after registration, customers can log into the reserved area of the website at https://client.finexoinv.io, where it is possible to deposit and withdraw funds on the trading account;

iv. as for traceability, at the bottom of the www.finexoinv.io website's pages it states “Operated by STRAT LTD with the registered number 26482 BC 2021 and address Suite 306, Griffith Corporate Centre, Beachmont, P.O. Box 1584, Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines”;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 22082 of 11 November 2021, whereby the mentioned Strat Ltd was ordered to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate www.finexo.io website and the related https://client.finexo.io page;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is partially superimposable on that of the above www.finexo.io website, the www.finexoinv.io domain replicates the content and graphic format of the said www.finexo.io site;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the www.finexoinv.io website and the https://client.finexoinv.io page constitutes the provision of investment services, as referred to in article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as users are offered the possibility through the aforementioned domains to open a tradingaccount and place buy and/or sell orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the www.finexoinv.io websiteand the https://client.finexoinv.io page, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since these domains can also be consulted in Italian and there have also been reports ofcold calls being made to retail investors in Italy;

CONSIDERING that STRAT Ltd, with presumed registered address in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, as mentioned in thewebsite's footer, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not listed in the register kept by Consob pursuant to article 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the fact that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved to licensed parties as referred to under article 18, paragraph 1, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, pursuant to which, “The professional provision of investment services and activities to the public is reserved to Italian investment firms, EU investment firms, Italian banks, EU banks and non-EU firms”;

HAVING ESTABLISHED, therefore, that the operations in question qualify as the professional provision of investment services to the Italian public, in infringement of art. 18, paragraph 1 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the fact that, according to the provisions of article 7-octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance - “Powers to counteract abusive practices” - Consob “may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or activities over the Internet without being qualified to do so pursuant to this decree: […] b) order the cessation of the infringement”;

CONSIDERING it therefore necessary, in the light of the foregoing, to adopt this Resolution immediately for reasons of urgency;

RESOLVES:

To order the cessation of the infringement of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 conducted via the www.finexoinv.io website and the https://client.finexoinv.io webpage, consisting in offering and providing investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of the concerned parties and published in the Consob Bulletin.

This measure may be appealed before the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio within 60 days of the date of service.

12 January 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona